Question
Hi,
Something is biting through my pole bean stems 2-3 inches above ground. I think it's mice since it stopped in one garden after I caught several mice (and a mole or vole) in mice traps. But it started in my other garden. After a week on vacation, one entire row of pole beans were bit through at the same height and are dead. I've grown these Fortex pole beans in the same locations for more than 10 years and have never had this problem before. If it's mice, any suggestions for long term solutions? And why would they be doing it? They don't appear to eat the stems, just bite through them. We're had very dry weather. Could they be looking for moisture from the stems? Thank you.

Answer
Very sorry to hear about the nasty surprise these varmints left for you.  It is truly disappointing to work so hard and have things end up like that.  Not the first time.  Not the last.

The 2B Seeds Website describes a problem just like yours:

www.2bseeds.com/polebeanindex.shtml

'If you have just developed a new garden bed from areas that were previously covered with grass, this will often host a hidden danger for Beans, that is the cutworm.  These earth-colored caterpillars are very active at night, and will often kill seedlings by cutting and eating their main stems, making them look almost dead.'

Cutworms chew stems at or around the Soil line.  You have not been growing Grass in this spot, you've been growing the same plant for 10-plus years.  I hasten to point out at this point you have broken one of the 10 Commandments of Organic Gardening: THOU SHALT ROTATE THY CROPS.

Crop rotation avoids a lot of problems.  Maybe this one.  Maybe not this one.  But you are really asking for trouble by growing plants over and over in the same plot.

Back to the problem at hand.  If this is voles or moles, consider these words from 'Managing voles in Colorado':

'Capsaicin (the 揾eat?in spicy peppers) is labeled for use on ornamental trees and shrubs, fruit and nut trees, fruit bushes and vines, and nursery stock to protect them from vole damage. Limit application to fruit-bearing plants before fruit sets or after the fruit is harvested. Hot sauce also is registered for use on beans, corn, cucumbers, melons, peas, brussels sprouts, squash, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and cauliflower before edible portions and/or heads begin to form.'

Here's the full URL:

www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/natres/06507.html

Slicing paper towel rolls and collaring the stems at the base is the perfect foil for the little beasts.  Hope it's not too late.

L.I.G.